Chapter 152 The First Step to Empty Father’s Wallet (1 update)
Dequan felt that he could still save the situation. After all, when the emperor issued the decree, he could no longer suppress his anger.
If he did not bring His Royal Highness the Crown Prince back, he would certainly not escape the crime of dereliction of duty after returning to the palace.
Dequan smiled, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Emperor is really worried about you, otherwise he would not have asked me to rush over to take you back to Beijing.”
“Don’t worry, I’m ready. The carriage is padded with thick velvet, so it won’t be bumpy.”
Seeing this, Lu Zexu became even weaker, “Cough cough... I... cough cough cough...”
The cough was earth-shaking, as if he was going to cough out his lungs.
Dequan dared not say anything else. If something unexpected happened to the prince on the way back to the palace, he would be dead.
But judging from the current situation, the prince's condition was not very good.
"Your Highness is coughing so badly, where is the imperial physician?"
As soon as Dequan finished speaking, a man with a long beard came hurriedly with a medicine box on his back.
The man felt the pulse, immediately poured a pill from the medicine bottle on his waist, and fed it into Lu Zexu's mouth.
Dequan frowned. This was not the imperial physician accompanying the palace.
The man sighed, "The prince has injured his lungs and needs to rest. If he is not careful, his life may be in danger."
Dequan's face tightened, "This person should not be the doctor of the Imperial Hospital
, right?" In other words, he did not believe this person's diagnosis.
Then, Lu Zexu covered his chest with one hand and started coughing again, "The pigs raised... cough cough... on my farm are not... cough cough... in good spirits. I asked the doctor to take a look."
Dequan: "..."
He could not understand why a doctor was asked to examine an animal?
Is the life of a pig more important than the life of the prince?
Is this a precious pig?
Dequan was a very cautious person. He went to the pig pen in person and really saw the doctor giving acupuncture to the pig!
Dequan was dumbfounded when he saw this scene.
He suspected that the prince had brought the imperial physician here just for the pigs in the manor!
Although this guess was very absurd, the prince raised pigs and played in the mud, so it seemed that it was not impossible for the imperial physician to treat pigs.
In the end, Dequan asked the imperial physician to check the prince's pulse again. The result was the same as that of the doctor. They both said that the prince was weak and not suitable for traveling. Dequan did not dare to take the prince's life and could only return empty-handed.
Lu Chengtian was already worried about the prince's physical condition, and he became even more worried when he heard the news brought back by Dequan.
Dequan, the palace maids who served him, and all the civil and military officials in the court, have felt the emperor's unhappy mood these days. Even in the court, the officials dared not to tear each other apart like in the past. Even so, they would be reprimanded by the emperor if they were not careful.
No one knew why, why did the emperor suddenly become moody?
*
Lu Zexu returned to Beijing the day before the empress dowager's birthday banquet. At this time, the glass workshop had a stable output.
After many tests by the three people, the blackboard and chalk were finally made with the best effect.
Lu Zexu was full of confidence. There would be no problem in emptying the pockets of his father and many ministers this time!
His stick must not be in vain!
The seventh prince and the imperial concubine are also waiting for this birthday banquet.
The incident of the Sun family dealt a huge blow to the two. With a corrupt grandfather, the Seventh Prince not only lost a helper, but his original supporters in the court are now also watching.
This time, the Queen Mother's birthday banquet is an opportunity for the Seventh Prince to get back into the sight of the ministers. The Royal Concubine has done her best and found a satisfactory birthday gift this time, just waiting to shine at the birthday banquet!
On the day of the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, the royal relatives and officials above the fifth rank in the capital must enter the palace to celebrate her birthday.
The birthday banquet was very festive and lively, with singing and dancing, listening to operas, and the children and grandchildren saying auspicious words. The Queen Mother was smiling from beginning to end and was very happy.
When it was Lu Zexu's turn to celebrate the birthday, as the crown prince, although he was the sixth child, the crown prince was the heir to the throne of the country, and he had to come before all his brothers.
The Queen Mother hadn't seen him for a while. Seeing that he was still pale after so many days, the Queen Mother was very worried.
However, she couldn't ask about his health in this situation, otherwise, wouldn't it be a rehash of the past, making everyone recall the time when the prince was beaten with a stick?
Wouldn't this make the prince lose face?
As the winner of the last palace fight, the Queen Mother is very experienced in these matters. As
soon as Lu Zexu stood up, the eyes of the noble concubine and the seventh prince fell on his birthday gift, and they saw that it was just a small wooden box, and they both felt relieved.
The box is so small, what kind of precious gift can it have?
It is absolutely incomparable to theirs.
Their gifts are definitely the best, the most noticed, and the most precious!
"Grandmother, you will definitely like the birthday gift I prepared for you. I worked with the craftsmen for a long time to make it. I promise that it is the only one of its kind in the world."
Lu Zexu spoke in a low voice with a brisk tone, which aroused everyone's curiosity.
Seeing that he was in good spirits, the Queen Mother put aside her worries and turned her attention to the small gift box.
"Then I must take a good look at it. However, I don't care whether it is precious or not. As long as it is from you, I like it."
Lu Zexu knew that the Queen Mother came back from the manor because she heard about him and was worried that she would not have time to prepare a birthday gift and would be laughed at by everyone.
She was leaving him a way out.
Lu Zexu felt that he was wrapped in the kindness of the old man, and felt that he was bathed in the bright sunshine. The Empress Dowager was so good!
Much better than that abominable father!
The Empress Dowager opened the wooden box, and on the royal velvet cloth, there was a copper-colored carved handle connected to an oval object.
The Empress Dowager had lived for most of her life and had seen countless good things, but she had never seen this thing.
Lu Zexu introduced with a smile, "Grandmother, this is a mirror made by my grandson. It is the same as the copper mirror you are using in your palace now, but this one made by my grandson is much clearer than the copper mirror, thousands of times better than the copper mirror."
The Queen Mother held the copper carved handle in one hand and looked at the small oval mirror, which reflected her face clearly.
After living for so many years, this is the first time that the Queen Mother has seen her face so clearly! The Queen Mother
simply couldn't let it go. She kept looking at it from different angles, looking at the hairpin for a while, and then looking at the earrings she chose today. She liked it very much.
"This mirror is really amazing! I like it very much. I will definitely carry it with me and use it every day in the future."
The love from the bottom of the heart cannot deceive people. The courtiers, concubines, and ladies were very curious about what this thing was.
Even Lu Chengtian stood up and walked over. When he saw his face clearly in the mirror, he was stunned for a moment.
"Grandmother, my grandson has been thinking about this thing on the farm for a while. Fortunately, it was made before the birthday banquet."
Lu Zexu said nice things as if it was free, making the empress dowager laugh so hard that her teeth were showing.
Lu Chengtian on the side looked at his coaxing appearance and couldn't help frowning. As a father, he had never seen him so good at talking, nor had he seen him spend so much time on the birthday gift!
"Prince, since you made this, you wouldn't have only made this mirror, right?"
Lu Chengtian suddenly asked. He felt that his hint was already very obvious. Such a good thing couldn't be given only to the Queen Mother and not to him, the father, right?